An exact discovery of the mystery of iniquity as it is now practised among the Jesuits

the

.)

Bs it \£> now practissct) anioiui tbc
3-ceuits.

Jdtbliotbeca Curtosri.

OF THE

ni>^stcr\> of 3niqint\;

AS IT IS NOW PRACTISED
AMONG THE JESUITS.

TITUS OATES, D.D.

1679.

Edited by

EDMUND GOLDSMID, F.R.H.S.,

F.S.A. (Scot.)

J'RIVATEIA PRINTED, EDINBURCH
1886.

This edition is limited to 2j£ small-paper copies,
and Tj" large-paper copies.

•^

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

ANTHONY,

EARL OF SHAFTSBURY,
BARON ASHLY of WIMBOVRNE St GILES,

AM)

Lord COOPER of PAWLET, &c.

MY LORD,

s

[INCE it halh pleased GOD once more in

mercy to remember this poor Nation ;

for discovering to it those unheard of

Villanies and imparallelled ^Yickedness

that were contriving against its Peace

and Religion ; I thought it my Duty to let my

Countrey to have a Taste of the Nature of that

subtil Enemy she hath to deal withal, who envieth

K her Priviledges and Happiness ; and your Lord-

Cc ship appearing to stand by the Evidence with all

J Candor becoming a Person of your Worth and

Dignity, in order to a full Detection of the Frauds

n and Designs of these Vermine, I thought it my

^ Duty to pray your Patronage and Protection of

W this little Treatise which I now publish. I have

£ nothing, my Lord, to plead for me, but only the

Innocency of my Intention, and ([uestion not but

your Lordship will appear, as you have ever done,

<•
z
o

i

430057

6 THE Kl'ISTl.E DEDICATORY.

to oppose this growing Interest. And truly (my
Lord) this Nation hath reason to bless the Most
High God for your Care for her Peace and
Establishment in the Profession of that Religion ;
which doth oblige ail Subjects to all Loyalty to
their Prince, and to live in Peace and Love one
with another. This Treatise spake formerly the
Italian Tongue, but now it is made to speak
English ; and in it I find such an Account of the
Nations Adversaries, which to my own knowledge
they deserve. If it be faulty, it is because it is
somewhat too short of them. Now (my Lord) I
humbly conceive your Lordship will pardon that,
because it was all the Author (who was of the
Romish Religion) could say at that time when he
first publisht it. This I hope your Honour will
accept of thus presented, as I found it, without the
least Alteration. I shall submit all to your Lord-
ships Candor ; therefore heartily praying for your
Lordships Prosperity, I humbly take leave to
subscribe my Self,

g Your Lordships most Humble,
28 Febr. 167— , ^, ,. ^

9 and most Obedient Servant,

TITVS GATES.

TO THE

READER.

Courteous Reader,

THis insiiing Discourse I have pet'tised,
and find it to be an Exact Charac-
ter of an Old Jesuited Jesuit ; the
Contents of it was their Practice
whilst I conversed w th them ; and
therefore I am inclined to tell the World as 7mtch ;
seeing these times in which we live, reqziire that
every trne Englishman and Protestant, do under-
stand them : To this very end, that they may
detest all such Practices', and protest against them.
And uhereas they have endeavoti7-ed to deceive the
Simple-hearted of this Nation, by fair pretences to
the Propagatio7t of Religion, and by specious
Shezas of Zeal for the Salvation of Souls, our
Countreymen may plainly see it is not Vs but Ours
they seek ; if it be Vs, it is to destroy Vs, and not
to save Vs ; zvitness their Villairious Practices
thorowout all Christendom, attd especially in this
our Countrey ever since the Reformation of the
Church of God here with us. Reader this is no
fairted thing, the OxiginoX Awihox was an Italian,
and no doubt but of the Communion of that

S TO THE READER.

Abominable Whore, the Mother of all Harlots;
and therefore -vje may easily he induced to believe
the Contents thereof: for certainly had not their
Practices been notoriously hnozc/n, even to those of
their own Communion, this Atitkor could not have
had the Face to have publisht this Treatise in his
oivn Countrey, where Popish Religion is generally
practised and professed by every Man. I tell thee
Reader, when it pleaseth God to give me a little
Rest from this Weighty Affair I have now in
hand, I tvill give the People of England stich an
Account of the Villanies of these Jesuits, as 7uill I
hope make them and their Votaries to be an Abom-
ination to every sober and judicious Protestant, and
eve7i also to those of their own Perswasion. / am
co7ifident that the Eyes of the Nation ai-e opeji to
see their base Contrivances and Plottings against
the King, Kingdom, and Protestant Religion ;
and by this little Scheme we may see what would
be done, were they Lords over- tts. And as I
cojumend this Treatise to thy serious consideration
(Dear Reader) so I must also recommend to thee a
Piece lately set forth, intituled. The Heart and its
right Sovereign, And Rome no Mother Church to
England ; in which the Nullity oi Rome''s Church
and Ordination is proved : By that Judicious and
Reverend Divine Thomas Jones of Oswestry in
the County of Salop ; and sold by Benja. Shirly
under St. Dunstans Church zV/ Fleet -street. Both

TO 'IHE READER. 9

that and this I recommend to thee, to give the
Nation some sutisfaction, till God give me oppor-
tutiity to do my Countrey that Service as to publish
my "whole Narrative. / shall say no more, but beg
of God /or a Blessing on all our Hearty Ettdeavours
after a more full Discovery of this Mystery of
Iniquity : And so Farewel,

Thy Brother in Christ,

TITVS GATES.

Q 4- Q G.4- ^ G 4- ^ ^4^-^ ^^-^-^ M^-^

^^li EIJt^T ttSe01fEEf

^j' zV w no7i' in practice amongst t/ie
Jesuits, e^r.

Ilat the Religious Order of the
Jesuits was at the first planted in
the Vineyard of Christ, as a Tree
which should produce an Antidote
against the Poyson of Ileresie, and
such Blossoms of Christian and Religious Works,
as by the sweet savour of them Sinners might be
constrained to bid adieu to the corruption of Sin,
and to prosecute the sweet smell of Repentance ;
we need no clearer Demonstration than the Laws
and Orders on the which this Plant was grounded,
by the first Founder thereof Father Ignatius.

THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. II

And surely, so long as by those first Fathers that
gave it Life, it was cherished with the Dew of
Charity, and cultivated conformable to the Inven-
tion of the Planter :* It brought forth two
Branches, the one of Love towards God, the
other towards their Neighbour. In so much that
it was a wonder to consider the plenty of Fruits
which it brought forth in the Excellent Education
of Children, the Saving of Souls, and the Increase
of the Catholick Faith. But the Devil, who
makes use of all good Inventions, but as a Whet-
stone, grew as Eager and Cunning to destroy this
Work and Enterprize, as the other to promote it ;
and took occasion, even from the Greatness it
self of this Religious Order, and from that admir-
able Progress which in small time it had made, to
pervert the first Institution of it, with an Artificial
Subtility : instead of those two first Branches of
Charity, now utterly dried up, he hath ingrafted
two other ; the one of Self-love and the other of
Profit : from which the Christian Republick
receives such Damage, that haply a greater cannot
be imagined, as I am now about to Demonstrate
in this Discourse. In the which, I protest before
God, I have no motion either of Interest or
Passion, but an Innocent Zeal of the publick
Good, for the which I do assure my self I was

* This Exordium will make you know that the
author was a Papist.

12 AN EXACT UISCOVERY

born ; and that Princes knowing their Artifice,
may prevent them by Opportune Remedies.

Now that we are to know that the Religious
Orders of these Fathers the Jesuits being enlarged,
especially by the Education of Children (of which
there is neither City nor Kingdom but hath need)
was even from the beginning thereof (by very
many) much desired, and by divers Princes so
favoured, that in few years it diffused it self as
far as other Orders had done in many Hundreds.
This Greatness, which almost always induceth
into Mens Minds a change of Custom, raised up
in the Heirs of Father Ignatius, such a Love
towards their Society, that esteeming that more
profitable unto the Church of God, and more
helpful in the Reformation of the World, than all
other Orders ; they concluded among themselves
to endeavour with all Art and Industry to give
Increase to it; and in that to give Growth to the
Cause of Christ, the Good of the Church, nay (to
use their own words) to the only Patrimony of
Christ.

And here I had need of the Subtilty of Aristotle
to Discern, and the Eloquence of Cicero, to
Express those mervellous Means (A thing which
for the Novelty of it, to many seemeth incredulous)
by which these Fathers still gain Increase to their
Society. But it shall be sufficient for me to point
out only some few things, leaving a large Room

OF THE MYSTERY OI' INlyUlIY. I3

for other Mens Judgments, to raise up a Form of
what Idea themselves shall think fittest. Yet I
shall not omit to propound some few Heads, with
which I intend to serve the Reader for the Ground
of this Discourse.

And First : These Fathers, the Jesuits, thought
it was not sufficient to promote their Society to
that pitch of Greatness to the which they aspired,
only by Teaching, Preaching, or Administring the
most Iloly Sacraments, with other like Religious
Exercises ; because though from the Beginning (as
I said) they were kindly imbraced by many
People, yet in process of time they perceived, that
either for ill satisfaction, or some other occasion,
whatever it was ; the Affection of many grew
cold towards them ; and therefore doubting least
their Growth should end with their Infancy, they
invented two other Means to enlarge their Great-
ness.

The First, Was to work in the Minds of Princes,
and consequently of as many others as they could,
a base opinion of all other Religious Societies ;
discovering their Imperfections, and after a Cun-
ning Manner, from other Depressions, 'raising their
own Greatness ; and by this means they impatro-
nized themselves of many Monasteries, Abbeys,
and other main Possessions ; depriving those
Religious Persons that first enjoyed them, both of
them, and of all that belonged to them.

14 AN EXACT DISCOVERY

The Second Means, Was to thrust themselves
into Affairs of State, gaining interest with the
greatest part of Christian Princes ; and that with
as Subtil and Artificious a Device, as ever yet the
World brought forth : into which, as it is very-
hard to penetrate, so it is (almost) impossible,
sufiiciently to explain it.

There resides continually in Rome the Father
General, to whom all the rest render most exact
Obedience : and there is choice made of some
other Fathers, who from the Assistance they
always give him, are called his Assistants, and
there is one (at least) of every Nation, who from
that Nation takes his Name. Hence one is stiled
the Assistant of Franc, a second of Spain, a third
of Italy, a fourth of England, a fifth of Austria ;
and so of all other Provinces and Kingdoms ;
every one of which, hath it assigned to him as his
particular Office, to inform the Father General of
all Accidents of State which occur in that Province
or Kingdom, of which he is Assistant. And this
Office he performs by the means of his Corres-
pondents, who reside in the principal Cities of
that Province or Kingdom ; who with all industry
first inform themselves of the State, the Quality,
Nature, Inclination, and Intention of Princes,
and by every Courrier advertise the Assistants of
such Accidents as are newly discovered. And
these again comnumicate all unto the Father

OI' THE MYSTERY OK IMi^UIlY. I5

General, who meeting in Council with all his
Assistants, they make an Anatomy (as it were) of
the whole World ; conferring the Interest and
Designs of all Christian Princes. Here they con-
sult of all fresh Intelligences received from their
Correspondents, and curiously Examining them,
and conferring them together, at last they conclude
to favour the Affairs of one Prince, and to depress
the Designs of an other, as shall be most requisite
for their Interest and Profit. And as those who
are Standers by at some Game, more easily discern
the Stroke than those that gave it : so these
Jesuits having in one View the Interest of all
Princes, know very well how to observe the
condition of Place and Time, and how to apply
the true means of advancing the Affairs of that
Prince, from whom they know they shall draw
most Water to their own Mills.

However, this is a thing simply evil, that
Religious Men should so much intermingle with
Matters of State, it being their Duty rather to
attend the Saving of their own and other Mens
Souls, being for that end only retired from the
World ; but by this means they are more intangled,
than the very Secular Persons themselves ; and for
many most pernicious Consequences, we shall find
this their Course most Wicked, and worthy of a
speedy and potent Remedy.

For First, These Jesuits are Confessors to the

l6 AN EXACT DISCOVERY

greatest part of the Nobility thorowout all Roman
Catholick States. Nay, and the better to attend
them, they will not admit Poor Men, or Poor
Women to their Confessions ; but rather aim to
be Confessors to Princes themselves. So that by
this Course it is easie for them to penetrate every
Design, every Resolution, and Inclination, as well
of Princes, as of Subjects ; of all which they
suddenly inform the Father General, or his
Assistants, in Rome. Now any Man that hath
the least measure of Understanding, may easily
perceive what a prejudice they bring to Princes by
this Device, when only their own Interest stirs
them to that, to which (as to their last end) they
direct all their Endeavour.
y. Secondly, Whereas Secrecy is a proper and

unseparable Accident, which so accompanieth the
Preservation of a State, that without it, the Ruin
of a State must needs follow : Therefore all
Princes are most rigorous against those who
discover their Secrets, punishing them as the
Enemies both of them and their Countrey. And
as on the other side, to understand the Designs of
other Princes, makes a Man more cautelous, and
more apt to discern his own State ; and therefore
they use to spend no small sum of Money, in the
maintaining of Embassadors and Intelligencers ;
yet are oftentimes deceived too in their Relations.
But Sh^ Jesuits (that is) their Father General and

OF THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 17

his Assistants, as well by the Confessions and
Consultations which their Correspondents do
make, residing in all Chief Cities of the Christian
World, as by means of their other Adherents, of
whom we shall discourse hereafter, are most
sincerely and punctually advertised of all Deter-
minations, that are concluded in the most secret
Councils: So that they better know (almost) all
the Power, Possessions, Expences and Designs of
Princes, than the Princes themselves ; and that
without any other Expence than the Carriage of
Letters; the which notwithstanding in Rome alone
(as the Masters of the Posts relate to us) ariseth to
Sixty, Seventy, and Eighty, and oft times to an
Hundred Crowns of Gold for one Courrier. So
that they knowing so exactly the Affairs of all
Princes, do not only diminish their Credit among
themselves, but wound their reputation both with
other Princes and with their own Subjects ; de-
pressing or advancing their State at their pleasure :
and that so much the easier, because by the same
way of Confessions and Consultations, they enter
into the very Secrets of the Peoples Souls ; know-
ing who stands well affected to the Prince, and
who rests dissatisfied : so that by these Relations
which they have of State-Affairs, they may easily
sow Discord among Princes, occasion a Thousand
Jealousies, and by their insight into the Subjects
Affection, raise Commotions and Division; bring-

B

1 8 AN EXACT DISCOVERY

ing into Contempt the very Person of the Prince.
Whence We must concUide, That the Interest of
State doth not comport, that any Prince should
Confess Himself, much less that he should permit
any of his Confidents, Friends, Secretaries,
Councillors, or other his Chief Ministers, to con-
fess themselves to Persons that attend so diligently
to spy out Matters of State, and to serve them-
selves of this means, to insinuate into the Favour
of Princes; since there is this day no want of
Religious Persons, Men both foriLifeand Learning,
to be regarded equally with the Jestdis, whom in
this kind they may employ ; and who attend
nothing but the Government of Souls, and their
Monasteries.

Thirdly, W^hich is a greater Discovery than yet
we have made, or shall make hereafter, ye are to
know that there are found amongst them four sorts
of Jesuits : The First consists of certain Secular
People, of both Sexes, adjoyned to their Society,
who live under a certain Obedience, which them-
selves call A Blind Obedience; squaring all their
Particular Actions by ihe Jesuits Counsel ; resign-
ing themselves most readily in all things to be
commanded by them : and these for the most part
are Gentlemen or Gentlewomen, the Wealthiest
Widdows, or the Richest Citizens, or Merchants ;
from all whom, as from Fructiferous Plants, the

OK THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 19

Jesuits gather every year a Copious Harvest of
Gold and Silver.

Of this Kind are those Women, who (in Italy)
call themselves Chettme, who are induced by the
Jesuits to forsake the World, while in the mean
time they get their Pearls, Apparel, Ornaments,
Furniture of Houses ; and finally very great
Possessions.

The Second Sort is. Of Men alone ; but those
as well Priest as Lay-men : yet such as live a
Secular Life, and such as oft-times by the Media-
tion of the Jesuits, obtain Pensions, Church-
Livings, Abbeys, and other Revenues : but these
make a Vow to receive a Habit of the Society at
the pleasure of the Father-General ; and therefore
they are caWcd Jesttits in Voto: and by the labours
of these Men, \he Jesuits wonderfully avail them-
selves in the Fabrick of their Monarchy. For
they maintain in all Kingdoms and Provinces, in
all Courts of Princes, and Pallaces of Great Men,
such of these as shall serve them in a Kind,
which I shall declare unto you in the Seventh
Point of this Discourse,

The Third Sort oi Jesuits are those who remain
in Monasteries ; and these are either Priests,
Clerks, or Converts ; who because at the first they
came not from that Profeesion, may at the pleasure
of the Father General be deprived of it, although

20 AN EXACT DISCOVERY

of themselves they have no power to leave it. And
these being such as have no Office of importance,
for the most part do simply obey in any thing that
their Superiors command.

The Fourth Sort is of Politick Jesuits^ thorow
whose hands passeth the whole Government of
Religion ; and these are they, who being tempted
V by the Devil, with the same Temptation that

Christ had in the Gospel, Hac omnia tibi dabo;
Have accepted the Bargain : and therefore labour
to reduce their Society to an obsolute Monarchy,
and to place the Head thereof at Rome, where all
the principal Affairs of the Christian World meet
together. There resides the Head of these
Politicians (which is their General) with a great
number of others of the same Profession ; who
being first informed by their Spies, of all such
weighty and important Matters as are to be treated
in the Court of Rome, having first among them-
selves agreed of such ends, as for their own
Interest they desire ; each one takes his Office to
go every day their Circuit thorow the Courts of
Cardinals, Embassadors and Prelates; with whom
(cunningly) they insinuate their Discourse of such
Affairs as is then in hand, or shortly to be handled ;
representing it to them after what manner they
please, and in the same shape ; that by reflection
from their own ends, themselves do apprehend it ;
oft-times changing the Aspect of the Business,

OF THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 21

and shewing Black for White. And because the
first interpretations, made especially by Religious
Men, are wont to make a notable impression in
Minds of him that hears them ; hence it proceeds
that many times, most important Affairs treated
by the Embassadors of Princes, and other grave
Persons of the Roman Court, have not attained
that success which Princes expected ; because the
Jesuits had possessed their Minds with their oblique
Relations, efl'ecting that those Embassadors, or
other Agents, should have but small Credit with
them.

And the same Artifice that they use with the
Prelates of Rome; they use also with other
Princes, either by themselves, or by the means of
their Pensionary yc-w^zVj out of Rome ; so that we
may conclude, that the greater part of Affairs
thorowout the Christian World, doth pass thorow
the fesiiits Hands ; and those only take effect,
against which they make no opposition. Most
stupendious and impenetrable is the Art that in this
Kind they use ; which though it cannot by me be
perfectly described, yet may it lively be descryed
by any Prince, who will but vouchsafe to read this
little touch that I give of them ; because he will
presently reflect upon what things have past : and
as he shall understand the truth of my Discourse,
calling to mind with what Art things have been
handled, he will discover more of that, which

22 AN EXACT DISCOVERY

will seem strange and marvellous unto him, For
not being content with this their close Artifice
by which they thrust themselves into the Affairs
of the World, with perswasion that it is the only
means to atchieve that Monarchial Jurisdiction at
which they aim ; they made Supplication to Pope
Gregory the Thirteenth, That for the time to come
he would publickly favour their Project: and
representing it to him under the publick good of
the Church, they required that he would com-
mand all his Legates and Apostolical Nuncio's,
to take to them, every one for his Companion and
Confident, some Jesuit, by whose Counsel he
should be governed in all his Actions.

Fourthly, By these cunning Carriages, and their
insight into State-Affairs, the Oca^i Jesuits have
gotten the Love of many Princes, as well Temporal
as Spiritual ; which Princes they do perswade, that
they have said and done many things for their good;
and thereupon have followed two Weighty Incon-
veniences : First, That abusing the Friendship and
Goodness of those Princes, they have not cared to dis-
please many Private, but otherwise Rich and Noble
Families ; usurping the Wealth of Widdows, and
leaving their Families in Extream Misery ; allur-
ing to their Religion, and to frequent their Schools,
the most Noble Spirits ; who if haply they shall
fall out to be unable and unfit for their purpose,
under some honest pretext, they license from their

OF THE MYSTERY OE INIQUITY. 23

Society ; but withal lay hold of their Estates, of
which their Society will needs be invested Heirs.
In the mean time absolutely excluding the poor
from their Schools, directly against the Orders of
the Fore-named Father Ignatius, and the Inten-
tion of those their Patrons, who gave them their
Possessions ; not that they should serve their own
interest, but the Christian Common-wealth.

The Second Inconvenience is, That \ht%z Jesuits
cunningly make the World know the Friendship
and Inwardness they retain with Princes ; setting
it forth a little more than indeed it is, to the end
that they may gain the Love of their Ministers ;
and so procure, that all Men shall recur to them
for Favors. Thus they publickly brag, That they
can make Cardinals, Nuncio's, Lieutenants,
Governours, and other Officers : Nay some of
them have plainly affirmed. That their General
could do more than the Pope himself : And others
have added, That it is better to be of that Order
which makes Cardinals than to be a Cardinal.
And these things they divulge so publickly, that
there is not any Man who familiarly converseth
with them, to whom they relate not these or such
like Things.

Fifthly, Having laid the Ground-work of this
their Practice in State, they pretend a power to
raise or ruin whomsoever they please ; and indeed
making use of Religion only for a Cloak, whereby

24 AN EXACT DISCOVERY

they may gain Credit, they many times attain their
Ends. But when they propound any Man unto
the Prince for Preferment, they never make Choice
of him who is most fit and deserving; but rather
oppose to such an one, when they know he is not
partial on their side ; and alwayes advance such
Persons as make for their Interest, without any
regard whether he be well-affected to the Prince,
wliether meritorious or fit to undergo that Office
to which he is nominated ; whence there oft
ariseth Disturbance to the Prince, Complaints and
Tumults among the People.

Sixthly, As the Master of a Galley, when he
perceives a good gale fair for his Voyage, but with
once whistling makes all the Galley Slaves fall to
their Oars, and stretch them before the Vessel ;
so when in the Dyets and Assemblies (which these
Fathers continually make by their General and his
Assistants in Rome) they conclude it fit for their
turn, that some one Person should be promoted to
Dignity ; the Father General signifies so much to
all those that reside elsewhere ; and all those with
one consent at an instant joyn all their Forces
to make him attain that Honour which they
intend him ; and he should be very ungrateful,
if afterwards, in all Occurrences, he should
not serve the Jesuits with the like Zeal that
they preferred him. And because such a Man,
nay many such Men (for many Dependants

OF THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 2$

in this Kind the Jesuits have) hold them-
selves more obliged to the Jesuits than to their
Prince, of whom they have received their Honour
and Greatness ; therefore they serve the Jesuits
with a greater Affection than the Prince himself.
Thus they delude their Princes, who imagin-
ing they have got a trusty Servant, have only
made way for a Spy of the Jesuits; of whom
they often times serve themselves to the damage
of that Prince who advanced him. I could with
manifest Examples confirm this my Discourse, if
daily Experience and Common Fame were not
a sufficient Confirmation to it. But not to make
myself over-tedious, I will pass to some other
things ; concluding that this happily is the Cause
why the Jestdts are wont to call their Religion,
A Graftd Monarchy ; as if they governed all
Princes and their Ministers at their pleasure.
And it is not long since, that one of the chief of
them, being publickly to treat with an illustrious
Prince, in the name of the Society, he began with
these words of Arrogancy, and grounded upon a
conceit of their Monarchy : Our Society hatk
always maintained good intelligence -luillt your
Grace, dfc.

Seventhly, These Fathers take great pains, to
let the World know, that all those who are any
way in estimation with their Prince, have been
their Favourites, and born up by their hands ; so

26 AN EXACT DISCOVERY

tliat by this means they are more Patrons of the
Subjects Affections, than the Prince himself.
And this is a notable Prejudice unto the Prince ;
as well because no reason of State doth comport,
that Religious Persons, so ambitious and politick,
should be so far Patrons of the will of the
Ministers, that whensoever they please, they can
cause Treason and Destruction. As also that by
this means, that is by the mediation of the
Ministers, their Adherents, they induce into the
Princes Service, either for Counsellors or Secre-
taries, some of those Jesuits in Voto, of whom I
discoursed before. And these again procure the
Prince to entertain some Jcsttii for his Counsellor or
Preacher. And thus all these together, do serve
as Intelligencers to the Father General ; to whom
they render an exact account of all that passeth
in the most secret Councils. Whence it proceeds,
that many times we see Designs prevented, and
Secrets of the greatest importance discovered ; yet
no man can search out the true Author : but oft
times those are most suspected, who are least at
Fault.

Eighthly, As by Nature Subjects are wont to
follow the Inclinations of their Prince, so all those
as give Obedience to their Father-General, per-
ceiving that he chiefly Attends to Matter of
State, and by that means endeavours to improve
and inrich their Society, they also apply them-

OF THE MYSTERY OK INIQUITY. 2?

selves that way ; and making use of their Kindred
and Friends, strive by force to penetrate the
Hearts of Princes, and their most secret Designs ;
only to give notice of them either to the Assis-
tance at Riine, or to the Fathe r- General ; by this
means to procure them their Favour, and attain
some Dignity; which by any other means they
could never have obtained. For amongst them,
none are preferred to any Office of Importance,
but only those whom they know prone to Advance
their Society to that height of Greatness to which
they Aspire ; and consequently, none but such as
are known to be sufficient in the Managing of
State-Affairs.

Ninetkly, As from divers Flowers and Herbs,
by means of a Limbick, a Man may draw such
an Oyntment, as it is fit to Heal a Mortal Wound :
And as from several Blossoms Bees suck Honey,
so these Jesuits, from the Infallible Relation which
they have of all Princes Affairs, and of all Accidents
that do happen in every State, by the Politick
Power of their own Discourse, they Extract from
them their own Commodity, which is the only
Remedy to Cure that their Abominable Wound of
Covetousness and Ambition ; and they compose a
certain Art of their own Profit, by which they
obtain their own Ends, as well from the good of
some as hurt of others, but more often from the
latter, than the former.

28 AN EXACT DISCOVERY

Thus they usuallj' shackle with their Fetters,
that Prince, into whose secrets they have Crept :
propounding to him that they have the only and
most Excellent means to make him the Master of
his Desires ; but when by this ineans they have
drawn their own purposes from him considering
that the too swelling Greatness of that Prince may
one day prove prejudicial unto them; as Lawyers
do their Causes, they prolong as much as they can,
the success of that Affair ; and afterwards by
Politick Plottings and various Juglings, they
utterly Ruin those Designs to which they had
given a beginning.

The League of France, Treated and Concluded
by them, not long after they abandoned, when
they saw things prosper on the Kings side : And
England, so often promised by them to the
Spaniards, yet in such manner performed ; so
confirms this my Discourse, that there needs no
farther Proof.

Tenthly. From what hath been already said, it
necessarily follows, that the Jesuits have no good
Intentions towards any Prince what-ever, either
Temporal or Spiritual ; but only serve them so
far as they may serve their own turnes.

Nay, It followeth yet farther, That no Prince,
much less any under Prelates, can make the like
use of them ; because they shew themselves at the
very same time equally Affected to all; niaking

OF THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 29

themselves English with English-'^ltn, French
with French^ Spaniards with Spaniards ; and so
with all other Nations and Countries, according
as their Occasions require ; from wliich they do
intend to Extract their Profit. They have no
regard to the Prejudice of one, more than of
another ; and therefore, those Enterprizes, in
which they have intermeddled, have seldom
times succeeded well ; because they have no
purpose to serve, farther than their own Interests
dictates to them. And in this, the Artifice which
they use, is most Notorious ; Some of them
faining themselves to be Partial to the Crown of
France, others to Spain, others to the Eniperotir ;
and some to other Princes, of whom they desire
to be most Favoured : And if any of these Princes
please to make use o^somQjesuite, whom he holds
for his Confident Friend, he immediately writes
to the Father General of the Afi"air, which he
hath to Treat on ; and expects his Answer, to-
gether with Order what he shall do ; and con-
formable to that Commission he rules himself:
Never regarding, whether that Order be Conform-
able to the Intention of the Prince, who commits
the Care of that Affair to him : But if the Society
be served, he takes little care what Service he
doth for the Prince.

Besides this, because the Jestiites understand
the Interest of all Princes, and are most knowing

30 AN EXACT DISCOVERY

in all Things daily Treated upon in Secret Councils;
those who pretend to hold with France, Propound
to the King, and his Principal Ministers, certain
Conditions of State, and Important Considera-
tions, which are sent to them from their Politick
Fathers at Rome : And those that pretend to hold
with the Crown of Spain, do just the same with
them ; and so with the rest. From which Course
and Cunning of theirs, there ariseth such a Diffi-
dence in the Hearts of Christian Princes, that
none will scarce give Credit to each other j which
is a main Prejudice to the Publick Peace, and
Universal Welfare of Christendom. The which
Diffidence of theirs, is that which makes it so
difficult a thing, to Conclude a League against a
Common Enemy, and Precious Peace to be of so
little Value amongst PHnces,

Furthermore ; With these Artificious Devices,
they have so opened the eyes of the World, and
sharpened Mens Wits in Matters of State ; that
to this Day, to the notable Prejudice of the Holy
Church, they attend to nothing else, but Matters
of Policy ; and poize all their Actions in that False
Ballance.

But to the end that these Jestiitical Stratagems
may yet appear more plainly, I cannot here con-
ceal the Means, by which they inveigle Princes
to be of their Party. There are some Years now
past, since one of these Fathers, called Father

OF THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY. 31

Parsons, the Assistant of England, wrote a Book
against the Succession of the King of Scotland to
the Crown of England ; and another Father,
called Crittonius, with some others of the same
Order ; in a Book, which they wrote, Defended
the Title of the King oi Scotland ; opposing the
Opinion of Father Parsons ; and feigning (under
a Specious Pretence) to be at Discord amongst
themselves : Although all this was (indeed) cunn-
ingly done, and by the Special Command of their
Father General ; only for this purpose, that who-
soever should Succeed in the Kingdom oi England,
they might have an Excellent Argument, to work
in him a great and good Opinion of their
Society; and so to Extract their own Ends from
him.

A fair Example to shew us, that Princes are the
Objects of all Jesuitical Actions and Determina-
tions ; and (by Consequence) to make good their
own Saying, That their Society is a Grand
Monarchy.

Again, that the Truth of this may appear,
That the Jesuites have no Regard, whether they
Please or Displease any Prince, where their own
Interest is most nearly concerned : Although
Experience of infinite Things past, makes it as
Clear as the Stm at Noon-day; yet the Particulars,
which I shall here subjoyn, will render it every
way most Evident.

32 A\ EXACT DISCOVERY

There is no person in the World, whom they
are more bound to Serve and Obey, than the
Bishop of Rome ; not only for many other Reasons,
but especially, because they make a Particular
Vow to obey him : Yet when Phis Qumftis went
about to Reform some of these Fathers, reducing
them unto the Performance of their Duty in the
Chair, they would not obey him ; esteeming that
a Notorious Prejudice to their Society. And those
few, who yielded themselves to the Pope's Pleasure,
accepting that Profession, were alwayes afterwards
mocked and jeered ; and called by their Fellows,
Quintini: Nor could ever any of them get the
least Preferment amongst them.

In the same kind they opposed Glorious Saint
Charles, Arch-Bishop of Millain, who as Legate
a Latere to his Holiness, endeavoured to reduce
them to a religious Discipline.

But what should I speak of these, since they
obey not the Sacred Cannons themselves ; but
against their Decrees make Merchandize of Pearls,
Rubies, and Diamonds, the which they bring from
the Indies: And there is an Opinion, that the
greatest part of Precious Stones, which are sold in
Venice, belong to the Jesuits ; the ground of
which Opinion hath been received from their own
Brokers, whom they have employed in the Sale
of them.

But that they are no faithful servants to the

I'HE MYSTERY OF IXIQUIiV. 33

Bishop of Rome, those Fathers well know ; who
for default of their Service, were called by process
to Rome. I need not Name them, nor will I wade
farther into this matter, as well that I may not be
compelled to speak of some Prince, whom my
Discourse may not very well please (my self
designing to do Service to all, and to Offend none)
as because I intend not here to make so large an
Invective against the Jesuits as they deserve ; but
only to give a short and plain Draught of their
Courses and Customs.

For, as many times we behold one Afflicted
with some grievous Infirmity, sending forth such
lamentable Cries as reach Heaven it self ; and
every one perceived that the Man is terribly
indisposed, but no man is able to discern the
Original Cause of his Evil ; so the whole World
Complains of the Jesitits, some for being Perse-
cuted, others for being Tortured ; and some for
being Treacherously served by them : but the
Mischief still remains amongst us, nor is the
Cause thereof easily Discovered ; which is nothing
else but an immense desire which they have to
Increase their own Power; in respect whereof,
they esteem it nothing to Vilifie or Murther any
Man or to deceive Princes, and to Oppress the
Poor ; to Extort from Widows their Estates,
and Wrong the Fatherless : W'hat shall I say, to
Ruinate most Noble Kingdoms ; nay, many times

34 AN EXACT DISCOVERY

by their Intermedling with all important Affairs
in matters of State, it causes Jealousies and Despite
amongst Christian Princes.

Now as there would follow a great Inconveni-
ence, if that part which was last formed by
Nature, as an Instrument to serve therest that
were more Noble, should attract unto it self, all
the purest Blood and Vital Spirits, because this I
say, were the way utterly to dissolve the whole ;
so it is as inconvenient, that the Religion of the
Jesuits planted into the Body of the Holy Church,
as Instruments for the Conversion of Hereticks,
and the perswading of Sinners to Repentance,
should bring within their own Power, all the most
weighty and important Affairs of Princes and
Prelates, and Extracting from them the very Life
and Spirit of their Interest, should convert them
unto their own purposes : Because from hence,
both private and publick Peace is Disturbed,
many Depressed, which were worthy to be Exalted ;
and many Exalted, which deserve to be Depressed ;
with a Thousand Inconveniences which would
follow upon it.

I could produce many Reasons, taken from
Experience it self, to demonstrate what an
ingorgeous Ambition the Jesuits have to increase
their Greatness ; but it shall here suffice, to make
it known from Father Parsons own words,
recorded in a Book of his composed in the

OK THE MYSTERY OK IiMQUliV. 35

English Tongue, and Intituled, Tlie Rejorniation
of England ; where having (irst blamed Cardinal
Pool, and having also observed many Wants and
Imperfections in the Council of Trent, at length
he concluded, that when England should return
to the Roman Catholick Faith, he would reduce
it to the Form and State of the Primitive Church ;
making common all Ecclesiastical Goods, and
assigning the Charge of them unto seven Sagii, or
Wise men, which should be Jesuits ; and they
should make Distribution of Goods at their
pleasure. Nor is it his will, nay, he forbids it,
under a grievous Penalty, that any Religious per-
son, of what Order soever, should return into
England without their License ; Resolving, that
none should enter there, but those who should be
Maintained by Almes.

But as it oft falls out, that Self - Love blinds
the Wisest Man, that he becomes the greatest
Fool, it is most Ridiculous which the same Fa-
ther subjoyns in that place : When England (sayes
he) shall ottce be reduced to the True Faith, it zuiil
not be Convenient, that the Pope {at the least for
Five Years space ) should look to receive any Frtiit
from the Ecclesiastical Benefices of this Kingdom ;
but remit all into the Hands of those Seven Wise
Men, who should Dispense them as they conceived
best J or the goo i of the Church.

This being his Designe, that the first Five Years

36 AN EXACT DISCOVERY

being past, by some other Invention (of which they
are very full) they would re-confirm the same
Priviledge for Five Years more, and so onwards,
till they had utterly excluded his Holiness from
England : Now who seeth not here (as in a Table)
the Covetousness and the Ambition oiiht Jesuits,
naturally describ'd ; together with the hearty desire
they have to make themselves Monarchs : And
who sees not with what Cunning they endeavour
to promote their own Designs ; procuring it either
from the Good of some, or 111 of others. What
should I say more of them : In the time of Gregory
the Thirteenth, Did they not make it their Request,
that they might be Invested of all the Parish
Churches in Home ? That they might there lay a
Foundation of their Monarchy ? And that which
they could not get in Rome, Have they not finally
obtained it in England? Where they not long
since have chosen an Arch-Priest, one of the
Jesuits in Voto, who instead of protecting the
Clergy, like a Ravening Wolf persecutes all such
Priests as are not depending upon the Jesuits ;
driving them to termsof Desperation, and depriving
them (under a great Penalty) of mutual Com-
munication ; so that by this time, almost all the
English- Ronian-C\ex^ are Jesuits in Voto ; Nor
do they accept any into their Colledges, who hath
not pass'd his Word to become a Jesuit ; so
that when that Kingdom shall return to the

OF THE MYSTERY OK INIQUITY. 37

Antient Faith, En^^land will be like to give
a beginning to an absolute Jesuitical Monarchy ;
because all the Ecclesiastical Revenues, all the
Abbeys, Benefices, Bishopricks, Arch-Priestships,
and other Dignities, shall be conferred only by the
Jesuits.

I here let pass many things, as the pretensions
which they make concerning other mens Estates,
how jealous they are of their Welfare, and
desirous of their Prosperity : as the Favour which
they endeavour to gain from Princes, by making
them believe, that their Subjects are most Devout
to their Religion, and consequently, that they are
able to make them well-aftected to the person of
their Prince. Such evident things as these, I
leave to every one to observe, and with Four brief
Considerations, I will conclude this present
Discourse.

First, That Men of such High Spirits, & such
reaching Designes, are alwayes Lovers of Novelty;
ever searching for it, & begetting it ; because
without some new-raised Motions, it is impossible
they should attain their Ends : And therefore the
Jesuits cannot be helpful to any Prince that either
loves Peace, or the Conservation of his own State;
since they are more likely to be the Cause of much
Trouble and Commotion : Nay, happily to Deprive
him of his whole State, if he Favour not their
Party ; or be not partially governed by their
Counsel.

43(395?

38 AN EXACT DISCOVERY

Secondly, If these, who have not Temporal
Jurisdiction, are able to cause such great and
prodigious Disturbances in the World, What think
ye would they do, if one of them should by
chance be created Pope ? First, he would stuff
the Consistory with Jesuits, and by that means
perpetuate the Popedome to them : and then
directing themselves by their in-sight and interest
of State, and having the Arm and Power of the
Pope, they would be enabled to put in Danger,
the State of many Princes ,* especially of those
who are Neighbours and Confiners.

Thirdly, it would be the Design of that Pope,
(if he could by any means) to Invest their Order
of some City, or Temporal Jurisdiction ; with the
which they would afterwards make way for a
Thousand other Designes, which they could never
Effect without the Damage of other Princes.

Fourthly, When the Consistory should be
entirely Jesuited, the whole Patrimony of Christ
would be in their Hands ; And as one that has
the Dropsy, The more he Drinks, the more he
Thirsts ; so their Ambition growing with their
Greatness, would occasion a vast Inundation of
Trouble in the World. Now, because there is
nothing more subject unto Change than matters
of State, These Fathers, with all their Power, and
Crafty Cunning, would endeavour to Alter the
whole Course of Government ; that they might

OV THE MYSTERY Ol' INKjUITY. 39

finally introduce the Form and Project of their
own Government ; and by that means absolutely
Immonarchize themselves. They have had it long
in their Heads, to gain into their Society the Son
of some Prince, who should absolutely invest the
Company of his State ; and this they had long
since Attained, if some others, wisely Spying out
their Design, had not prevented them : but had
they once obtained that, they would, without any
difficulty, have made themselves Patrons of the
State-Ecclesiastical : And as they are very
Invective and Subtil, they would afterwards have
found out a Thousand Wayes how to enlarge it.
Thus they would have wanted no means that
might make them Masters of their Projects : And
if nothing else would have done it, the Jealousies
which they would have raised in the Minds of
their Confining Princes, would have done them
no small service.

It is therefore most necessary, that for the
Preservation of Publick Peace, and for the Main-
tenance of States, for the encrease of True
Religion, and for the Common Good of the
whole World, that they be utterly Rooted Out of
all Christendom ; whose desires are so extreamly
inordinate, lest haply that follow which was
Anciently effected by the Davidi, (whose Courses
the Jesuits seem to Imitate) who were not
Destroyed till the time of ClaudittsXhe Emperour,

40 THE MYSTERY OK INIQUITY.

And when I shall be commanded to Write my
Opinion, concerning an opportune Remedy how
to Rectifie These Fal/ters, and to Convince them
of their Erroneous Opinions ; desiring rather that
they may be good Pastors of Souls, which are the
Treasury of Christ, and not of the World, or of
the Profit of the World, (which is nothing else
but vile Dung) I am ready to perform it with
Charity, and with all that Ability which it shall
please God to bestow upon me.

finis.

Printed by E. 6^ G. Golds mid, Edinburgh.

THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
This book is DUE on the last date stamped belo'w

WAR 2 2 ^950
0EC211956

ffi APR 2 2 1905

Ji

m APR 22 j^

""''^ ma DEC 0,^

OCT 2 6 ic 73

«4 Ma

JUN . ,

REC'D I,D-URD

M

NOV 0;d 1987
JUL 2 8 1987

UNIVERSItY of CALIFORNM

AT
LOS ANGELES

»

lllllllllllillllilllllill^

3 1158 00211 9922

■'^'^'''^mmm

«^^

ir'~' -nniii-iini>ig.i'«-i:j«.'5i

ucriDtiTiii [;'■ I

AA 000 642 731 4